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Poke The Box

The latest book, Poke The Box is a call to action about the initiative you're taking - in your job or in your life, and Seth once again breaks the traditional publishing model by releasing it through The Domino Project.

Yesterday's seminar was one of my favorites ever. We had a great group (this photo is probably insufficient evidence... too many folded arms... but hey. Several intrepid seminar attendees were game enough to wear a fez, even.

Here's Mary Ann's take on it. I had enough fun that I might do another one in March... but let me catch up first. Thanks to all who made the trip from near and quite far.

At a seminar last week, a woman asked me what to do if her bosses in the pharma industry insist on her doing ads she knows won't work. "They won't let me!" she said. I asked if she wanted that on her tombstone.

And then there's Gerry Mooney, who's quite rightfully proud of coining the ubernerd phrase: "Gravity: It's not just a good idea. It's the law."

The 83 year old inventor of the Kalashnikov rifle (which has probably killed more people than the atomic bomb) traded his name for 30% of a company that makes umbrellas. Next up: mineral water and vodka. BBC NEWS.

I've gotten more email about Alex Tew's Million Dollar Homepage than almost any other specific topic, ever.

Most of the people who write believe:a. they discovered itb. I didn't know about itc. there was a big lesson to be learned

I hesitated to post about it, largely because I didn't have a lot to add to the hooplah, unil I read Steve Yastrow's post on tompeters!

The interesting ideas in a changing world are those that inform us about how to behave in the future. New rules are worth learning.

On the other hand, if someone breaks a rule in a way that can rarely be duplicated, we don't learn a whole lot--unless there's a pattern.

I think Alex brilliantly manipulated the current architecture of the web in order to earn a substantial profit. And he did earn it... his investment of cash and time was substantial.

When I see the 10,000 copycats out there, all I can do is sigh. Why do they believe this is a new trend? Why do they think it's going to become an important part of the marketing mix, and are they really so naive to believe that they, and they alone, will earn even more than Alex did?

Yes, "? and the Mysterians" hat a hit song and wore masks, but that doesn't mean that wearing a mask and naming yourself after a punctuation mark is a new rule.

I'm frequently reminded of the lemming gene in mankind when I clean out my spam box. A subject line will show up and within minutes, it will be copied by 100 other spammers. Because copying the new rule feels easier and safer and more profitable than inventing a new rule. And in the world of spam, it guess it probably is.

In this case, though, I don't think you should quit your day job (Alex should, though, and apparently has).

Just got the cover for my new book, out late summer. It's more than 100 of my most-linked-to blog posts, essays, columns, etc. I really pushed the publisher hard, and I want to thank them, out loud, for being patient and doing great work. Especially Joseph.

The title post is here. It took a week to write... the short ones always do. Worth noting that Jeff Jarvis used the same phrase just a day before I posted mine--synchronicity is easy to find online, if you look for it. When I found his post later on, I dropped him a line, concerned that he'd be concerned about provenance. Like all great bloggers, he shrugged and smiled at the coincidence.

This might be the last time you see orange on one of my projects. Or maybe not.